SEATTLE, WASHINGTON--Disability rights activists who want states to
spend more of their Medicaid long-term care dollars on community-based and
in-home supports scored a victory this weekend, getting one governor's promise
to bring the issue to the governors of all states.

The group of about 500 protesters from the nation-wide advocacy group
ADAPT were in Seattle to draw public attention to the institutional bias in
Medicaid, and to get members of the National Governors Association to endorse a
resolution calling for Medicaid reform and support of legislation promoting
community-based services.

The NGA was meeting at downtown Seattle's Westin Hotel to develop their
2005 congressional agenda, focusing specifically on issues -- including
long-term health care -- related to the estimated 77 million Americans set to
retire over the next decade.

Medicaid, a program that provides medical and health-care benefits to
millions of people with low-incomes, is funded by both federal and state
dollars. Governors can influence to a certain degree how that money is to be
spent.

On Sunday, ADAPT members, many in wheelchairs, shut down traffic on the
streets near the hotel to force a meeting with the governors to get their
support. Five hours later, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell came out to
speak to the crowd. Rendell agreed to introduce ADAPT's long-term care
resolution to the NGA membership at its next meeting in February.

Other governors, including those from Mississippi, Kansas, and Montana,
expressed interest in supporting the resolution, or at least learning more
about it.

When asked about the effect the protesters had on him and other
governors, Washington Governor Gary Locke replied, "We're aware of their
issues. I'm proud that the state of Washington very much embraces (their
issues) with the Olmstead decision, and giving seniors a choice so that not
everybody goes into a nursing home. The disabled should not have to be
institutionalized."

The Olmstead decision refers to a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which
found that states violate the rights of people with disabilities when they
"unnecessarily" institutionalize them. The states have moved at varied paces to
implement changes needed to comply with the decision.

The activists also want the governors to support MiCASSA, the Medicaid
Community Attendant Services and Supports Act. The measure, which has been held
up in the U.S. Congress since it was first introduced in 1997, would allow
long-term care recipients to use their Medicaid funds for community-based and
in-home supports if they choose. Currently, 75 percent of Medicaid long-term
care funds go toward nursing homes and other institutions. Although the NGA has
supported many of the concepts behind MiCASSA, the governors have not yet
endorsed the legislation.

During a Monday press conference, organizers announced a list of the
twenty worst states in providing alternatives to nursing homes. Using three
sources of public data, ADAPT named the five worst as Mississippi, Nevada,
Louisiana, Tennessee, and Illinois.

"The governors of America should hang their heads in shame," said
Stephanie Thomas an ADAPT organizer from Texas.

"When I was born, my family was urged to give me up; to put me in
Fircrest," said Joelle Brouner, an organizer of Washington's newly-formed
Evergreen ADAPT. "I am a living example, for the past thirty years I have
enjoyed living in the community. To everyone out there in Seattle today I want
you to know, that from womb to tomb, you have a place in the community."

The disability rights activists may also have won the media battle
during the weekend. Local and regional television stations featured stories on
the ADAPT protests, as did national radio news, local and national newspapers
and wire services.